Interview with Author Sara Foust and a New Release Giveaway!

Welcome to Readers Write to Know! I asked you, my readers, what questions they would ask their favorite authors if given the chance, and the authors visiting my blog answered them! This week, I’m so happy to have as a returning guest author Sara Foust. For me, writing is something I have to do when I’m completely alone and everything around me is quiet. After working this summer with my kids home, my respect for homeschooling moms who also write went up a thousandfold. Sara is amazing — homeschooling, farming, fostering — and she writes one of my favorite genres, romantic suspense. Today we’re celebrating her latest release with her — and she’s giving away either paperback or ebook (reader’s choice) CAMP HOPE! Read on to see how you can win!

Tell us a little bit about yourself: I am a homeschooling mom of five. We live on a mini-farm in East Tennessee with sheep, rabbits, chickens, ducks, pigs, a pygmy goat, dogs, cats, and hermit crabs. We have two special needs children and spend a lot of time in therapy and on home therapies, but I love writing and make time for it in my “spare time” (ha!). I also recently started a freelance proofreading and editing business. We are very involved with church and 4H too.

Tell us about your current release:

AMY DAWSON directs a summer camp for foster children near Briceville, Tennessee. A foster mom for the first time, her responsibilities as mother to a traumatized child bring a whole new set of challenges and joys.

But when Amy’s four-year-old foster daughter is dragged into the mountains of Royal Blue by a former employee, parenting challenges are overshadowed by a new nightmare. The Sheriff’s department fails to procure viable leads, and Amy can’t sit idle. Her childhood friend and first love, JACK EVANS, returns to lend his skills as tracker. Problem is, he also stirs up romantic memories Amy would rather leave buried.

Jack struggles to let go of his past failures and prove his reliability by bringing Mattie home, but fears when he left camp nineteen years ago and failed to keep a promise to Amy he permanently lost her confidence.

As Amy plunges into the wilderness on horseback to search for Mattie, she must decide who she trusts, let go of her childhood traumas, and learn to rely on hope in God. Facing dehydration, starvation, and a convoluted kidnapper, will she succeed in recovering her precious foster daughter or get lost in the vast wilderness forever?

If you knew ahead of time your book would benefit only one person on their spiritual journey, wyould you still write it? Absolutely. In fact, a friend of mine told me as she was reading my first book, Callum’s Compass, that it helped her see an area where she was struggling and turn it over to the Lord. Her telling me that was everything I needed to know that my book had made an impact. And, when I write, the stories help me. God knows what I need and often shows me ways to heal and areas to improve through my own books.

Do you feel pressured to compromise your standards in order to reach a larger audience or be more successful? I do. There is a lot of pressure, from many, many sources to conform or “improve” your writing. To limit the amount of prayer included or the amount of scripture reference. To limit the “preachiness” of your books. While I never want to write subpar stories, I do want to write what God gives me. I had just such an instance with my third book (coming March 2019) where there is a very touchy, hot-button issue I felt led to write about. I almost let myself become convinced to write the story differently so I wouldn’t offend anyone. But my cousin reminded me that my writing is a ministry and if I feel strongly that God is leading me, it is better to listen to Him than to man.

Who was your first screen/musical crush? I grew up in the 80s, so (embarrassingly enough) New Kids on the Block. I had a huge poster on my wall!

Who were some of your favorite authors as a child? I loved Nancy Drew. I had a goal to read every book. I didn’t make it, but I did read a lot of them. As an adult I collected many of the original version (you know, the textured yellow covered ones) and hoped my children would fall in love with them like I did. So far, none of them have. I also loved Roald Dahl, especially James and the Giant Peach.

What is one thing that you “never saw yourself doing” and either do it now or have done? God seems to have a fun sense of humor in my life. It seems like everything I’ve ever said “never” to, God has giggled and said, “Oh yeah? Watch this.” I didn’t ever think I would have sheep and pigs, homeschool my children, be a foster parent, or go on a mission trip out of the country. I have both, do this, did this, or just returned from a trip to the Philippines. I don’t say “never” anymore.

How old were you when you wrote your first book? I completed my first novel in 2016. I was 34. I wrote a lot of beginnings to novels as I was growing up, though. I knew in second grade that I wanted to write a real, long novel. But it seemed like such an undertaking, such a massive task that I never had the courage to pursue it for real until I lost my job as a medical transcriptionist and began praying about what came next.

About Hallee

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